Callahan in question

Update, 1:25 p.m.: The Rangers confirm that Thomas Pock has been placed on waivers. No word yet if anyone’s coming the other way, or if the team is contemplating something else.

As if 120-plus minutes without a goal wasn’t enough to cry about, the Rangers may now be without Ryan Callahan, who suffered what is likely a slight knee sprain in a collision with Nigel Dawes last night (right after hitting the post no less).

Callahan missed practice and is being evaluated as I write, so it’s too early to tell what his availability will be tomorrow against the Devils. If he can’t go, or even if he can, Tom Renney said the team is considering bringing someone up from Hartford. I’ll update on that when I have it.

All that being said, I will say the mood around the Rangers at practice today was fairly buoyant, and not merely in a “if you don’t laugh you cry” sort of way. Both players and coaches insist last night was an indication that they are close to breaking through, and Renney even went so far to say the team feels like it’s on the front end of a winning streak.

Those are bold words for a team that seems to be going out of its way not to score goals recently, but maybe it’s better than brooding in their own misfortune.

Some more updates:

Naturally a storyline to follow is Scott Gomez facing his old Devils teammates tomorrow. The center conceded it’s going to be strange, and that he’s stayed in touch with a handful of his old mates, but he also said he’s too preocuppied with getting the Rangers out of their slump to pay it much attention. “It’s obviously a first, but I think it’s a little different situation now in that we definitely need the points,” he said. “We’ve got to start scoring some goals, so I think we’re more looking into that than anything.”

Sean Avery skated on his own today without pain and again looked sharp, but Renney was insistent that the wing not be rushed back into the lineup if it means compromising his shoulder even more. And the coach admitted holding Avery back is not always easy. “He’s a nutbar,” the coach said with a laugh. The plan is for Avery to likely take part in the morning skate tomorrow and then possibly be subjected to contact within four or five days. But in all likelihood, he won’t return before next Saturday.

65 Comments

trade rumors are circling with the rangers sending someone to nashville for an offensive minded defensemen. let’s hope its hamhuis, he’d be a sick qb on the powerplay. i wouldn’t mind sending prucha and monty (as rumored) to nashville.

Typical Renny, taking the ho humm attitude. Yea they hit some post’s but come on in my book they are just not there yet. It seems they are trying to force the puck in places they shouldn’t and Jag’s can’t make a good pass to save his live. I think they still have a lot of work to do. I really can’t see them just going out and start scoring all of sudden. I think they are still going to have their up’s and downs. Can someone answer me this, why is it that there are quite a few other teams with all kind of new players that are just gelling fine, why does it take the Rangers until mid season to get it together.

Alex Bourret? He is 6-39, relative plus-minus vs. the other Hartford RW’s, so far on the young season. How about Moore, who is 29-9? In sum, with Moore on the ice the Wolf Pack is scoring goals, and not allowing goals, generally speaking; while with Bourret on the ice, turn that upside down.

Ho way Nashville trades an offensive minded D with Weber still out. Also, I’d think they’d try to pry Brygalov from Anaheim before trying to get Montoya.

Bonfire – You come up with those stats based on a system you created, therefore the are biased and misleading. Bourret bring more to the table as far as intangibles go. He can be an Avery with more offense.

Its bad enough that we have not score in over 2 games but now Callahan is injured just tops the cake, Where did we go wrong? I like it better when all the sportswriters were counting us out and we proved them wrong , now this year all the sportswriters are calling us Stanley Cup Contenders, DAMN YOU SPORTSWRITERS except for you Sam.

Salten of Swing,
As far as I see the NHL Stats have Gomez listed 2 goals 1 assist , so much for that leader. Oh wait a minute he is actually tied for goals with Straka & Rozsival. A paycut just might do the trick since no one on this team has more than 3 goals, oh and has score in the last 2 games.

If the Rangers are truly is in the market for an offensive-minded D, why put Pock on waivers at the same time? He could sweeten the package the the club is offering, and, given regular work, could be an asset to some organization which doesn’t jack players around like they are widgets.

Also, by not being able to offer Pock as part of a trade package, it raises the chance of a really valuable resource, namely Montoya, having to be included in any deal, to get it done. One blunder after another, this is getting more comical by the day.

Um…can we trade Pock? Does he have zero value? Did the Rangers just make him seem less valuable by putting him on waivers? Sam, any more on Pock would be helpful, including quotes from Coach or Pock himself. He seems like he won’t make this team, but he also smells of the kind of guy we ditch and then he finds happiness and success on another team and we rue the day we let him go.

“If the Rangers are truly is in the market for an offensive-minded D, why put Pock on waivers at the same time? He could sweeten the package the the club is offering, and, given regular work, could be an asset to some organization which doesnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t jack players around like they are widgets.”

If there is a deal in the works, obviously the other team doesn’t want him. If they are trying to pull a Montoyta & Prucha for Hamhuis, they would need to clear caps space. Wait until it pans out or think it thru before you start calling blunders.

I really don’t see us trading Prucha. He is going to be part of this teams future. Straka and Shanahan are gone after this year. Montoya will almost definitely be involved in any trade of substantial return.

Believe me, I’m a big fan of Prucha, but with the team up against the cap, he is the highest paid forward I seem them moving out if they are trying to deal. I was just offering up an example, not what I would do.

If Pruchs gets traded i will fuggin snap. Fugg Hamhuis to hell n back, i can care less about him or monty, Pruchs is not going anywhere. And most of you kissing Dawes ass saying he can replae him, go to hell.

This BS happened last year, were we hear Pruchs was getting traded to EDM, that shit is not gonna happen. If it does then i hope Sather takes a puck to the face.

I dont care about Pock. If he gets picked up then thats means Sauer is closer to the organization, with Strudsy standing in his way.

This is getting ugly, with all the injuries.

3 god damn posts, but 0 fuggin goals…I hate getting shut out, its embarrissing, all these goaltenders are not shutout GT’s. Gerber is good but not shutout good, same with Manny, and Marc Andre. Now who are we versing?? The best friggin goaltender in the world, watch Marty have his best game of the season against us. Thats been are damn luck.,

Bring up Bourret or Korpikoski.

Sign Abby

If Pruchs gets traded, im gonna follow Slats around and be more annoying then that kid he told to piss off!!!

I love how people say Prucha needs to step up. Once again taken off the #1 unit by Renney in favor of Shanahan. For what? Like any other forward is playing well…The Dubinsky line was the best line out there last night.

The trade rumors better turn out to be just that. The Rangers don’t need to trade either this early and hastefully and not know what they will get in return. I think people just need to wake up. Dawes is fresh and was easily the best player last night. It’s a slump wake up and get out of it. Don’t panic and trade away talent hoping to fix something that will fix itself. Oh and someone kick Jagr in the ass because I don’t want him to turn into what he was with Washington

Prucha does need to step up. So does the whole offense. Enough with the crap about what line people are on, or their chemistry, or their goals per minute, or shots generated. Petr Prucha is in the NHL, making vast sums of money, to shovel pucks into the net. Please do so. Ditto many others.

Trust me, I pray every negative thought about this team or any of its players turns out to be wrong in the end.

I can’t figure out why Pock has been waived unless they’re really trying to bring someone in. It won’t be surprising if he gets picked up by another team. He’s a decent young defenseman with some offensive upside who’s been benched in favor of older guys with just as little talent. The Rangers are gonna be CTD if something doesn’t happen soon.

Does anybody notice that Jagr looks worse this year then he did at this time last year, coming back from an injury? I’m not ready to panick, but I’m getting frustrated watching this team waste 3 hours of my time.

Sam,
Last year Steve Valiquette sparked the Rangers turnaround with a big win. Maybe Renney should start Vally in the next week to see if he can spark the team again. Lundqvist obviously is playing great but maybe a little change and some Vally magic might do the trick?? Thoughts?

Regular plus-minus is so damn flawed, it is a joke. Surely you must know that empty net goals count as a plus for five skaters on one team, and, incredibly, as a MINUS, for all six skaters on the other side. Talk about warped accounting, that is it.

Also, ordinary-ability defensemen playing for a good team look above average in the regular plus-minus column; while the average D playing for a weak team is made to look worse than he really is.

Given the above inequities, I decided a fair, albeit not perfect way to measure D’s, (and I do this for forwards, too), would be to grade them against eachother, so that the overall strength or weakness of their team does not give a grossly misleading impression as to what they actually bring to the table.

Not everyone is a Sabermetrician, as I am, and many just prefer to go by conventional stats and visual impressions of teams and players, and that is fine. Just know that I take a lot of time maintaining my stats over a full season, and I do think they have some merit and offer some insight, beyond basic information accessible to everyone. In fact, I even do stats, on a limited basis, for the Rangers ECHL team in Charlotte. Why? Mostly because I want to know who the blue chip prospects are, throughout the system.

And, yes, I also maintain conventional stats, so that I know, and can share with you contrasts such as Hollweg has a club leading 20 hits; while Gomez is last with 3 hits recorded thus far on the season. Dubinsky is 3-0 takeaway-giveaway ratio, so far, while Jagr is 2-8, etc. Also, Drury 54%; Dubinsky 53%; Gomez 52%; and Betts 46%, are the face-off win percentages so far. I want to know these things, and perhaps some others here do to. In fact, the face-off stat is proving to be the most important stat, other than goals scored, so far this year in Ranger games as the team winning more face offs has a record (in regulation) of 5-1, and has scored eight more goals than its opponent, in those six games.

It never hurts to be open and flexible when it comes to new things, and there can be some benefit in terms of heightened awareness, and understanding, for making the effort to learn.

Robby – I have no problem with using “non-conventional” stats as a way to measure the “non-visual” things. And I am not saying conventional +/- is the ultimate measure of a player either.

Say all 6 D-men on a team are about equal in ability. Then they play Ottawa. 2 of them are going to have to matchup against Spezza/Heatley/Alfie, so their convential +/-will suffer, but their relative
+/- will look even worse. It just so happened that one of the other comparable D-pairs was able to shut down the 3rd line. Does that mean the first D-pair is that much worse than the other? Not really…

Now, I don’t know enough about Bourret and Moore to know who should come up, but don’t base it on your own stat category. Almost all stats can be stretched/constrewed to make your point in an argument. If the guy thinks Bourret can bring more to the table, let him think that.

I do think the giveaway-takeaway stat is an interesting one. My college hockey coach kept track of it too. I’m also surprised to see that Malik leads anyone in hits…

parties to a contract can contract to modify a conract. It’s probably against the CBA in this context, but in general, that’s the rule re: modifying contracts.

Does anyone know what happened with Aebischer? And thanks to LI Joe for clarifying that the half salary comes only upon reentry.

Pock is on his way down fr two reasons, I believe. One is because we need to recall a forward in case Callahan can’t go. Second is that he needs to play, and sending him to Hartford will at least get him in a few games.

My vote for players to come up are

1) Hugh Jessiman. I can’t tell if I really mean that or not. I’d like to see what he can do, but realistically, I know we need a player that is good.
2) Parenteau. He’s already seen NHL action in Chicago, but he’s small, and we have enough small players on the roster. At the same time, he reminds me of Callahan.

Re Moore vs. Bourret, my stat tells me that for Bourret to be the choice, there should be a compelling argument in his favor, otherwise, Moore gets the nod. It was suggested here, by someone, that Dawes plays well with Bourret. That raises the question, to my mind, as to why Dawes would not play even better with Moore? But that is a point in Bourret’s favor and I am open to the dialogue and all points of view.

As a Cubs fan you must be laughing yourself silly over the Reds signing that starting pitcher burn-out/injury specialist, Dusty Baker, to a long-term managerial contract.

Given all the evidence – and Baker burned them out in San Francisco and Chicago like nobody else in his time there, this has to be one of the dumbest mangerial signings in the history of MLB. “Affirmative Stupidity?”

Providence came into Hartford tonight, and came back from 1-3, to win 4-3. Moore was +1, Bourret was -1. Moore is now Rel. plus-minus 44-9; Bourret is now 6-48. But of course Bouret has all those “intangibles” working for him.

The REALLY bad news may be that Scatchard did not play. This means one of two things, either he got recalled to Broadway, or the organization didn’t like what it saw of him, over three games, and cut or benched him. I fear the worst. Please come back Callahan, we need you. Except, when Callahan does come back it could be bye bye Dubinsky. Here we go again, it seems, regressing by the week, both physically and philosophically.

Providence came into Hartford tonight, and came back from 1-3, to win 4-3. Moore was +1, Bourret was -1. Moore is now Rel. plus-minus 44-9; Bourret is now 6-48. But of course Bouret has all those “intangibles” working for him.

The REALLY bad news may be that Scatchard did not play. This means one of two things, either he got recalled to Broadway, or the organization didn’t like what it saw of him, over three games, and cut or benched him. I fear the worst. Please come back Callahan, we need you. Except, when Callahan does come back it could be bye bye Dubinsky. Here we go again, it seems, regressing by the week, both physically and philosophically.

Rather than getting into a conversation over statistical merit, the decision on who the Rangers bring up should be based on Chemistry. While Bourret was a first round draft choice that is known to throw vicious hits into opponents, and see the ice very well, Greg Moore is a simple up and down wing.

They’re both useful. Bourret’s shoulder has been a problem since training camp, and may well be an issue. Should that be the case, Moore is a solid choice. If Bourret is healthy, given the Rangers lack of goals, he would be the more logical choice, especially given his success last season paired with Dawes.